Business Partner Operational Finance Manager

Outform Group•Chicago, IL

About The Position

The Business Partner – Operational Finance Manager is an operationally focused finance partner and trusted advisor in a bespoke, project-based manufacturing business. The role monitors, reports on, and optimizes project- and customer-level profitability. It works closely with operations, production, and procurement to align purchasing and project execution with budgets and timelines, providing actionable insights to protect margins and support commercial success on complex, custom-built manufacturing projects. The position prepares project and customer income statements, analyzes actual results against estimates, supports revenue recognition and percentage-of-completion reporting, monitors purchasing and material flow, and contributes to project reviews, forecasts, budgeting, and month-end close. It also builds trusted relationships with project and operational teams, leads financial reviews, investigates cost overruns, and promotes continuous improvement and cost-control best practices.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field.
At least 3–5 years of experience in FP&A, business partnering, or operational finance.
Strong familiarity with project profitability analysis and forecasting.
Solid understanding of financial analysis, forecasting, margin and variance analysis, and project income statement analysis.
Proficiency with ERP systems and advanced Excel.
Ability to analyze detailed financial and operational data, identify trends, and provide practical recommendations.
Strong numeracy and analytical capability, including interpreting variances and delivering clear, actionable insights.
Excellent communication skills and ability to influence and support operational teams and present financial information clearly.
Initiative and organization to manage multiple projects, deadlines, and stakeholders simultaneously.
Team orientation and commitment to effective cross-departmental working relationships.
Strong problem-solving and stakeholder-management skills.
Ability to think strategically and innovatively and work autonomously in entrepreneurial environments.
Ability to communicate compelling messages to clients.
Proactive approach and ability to earn respect through intelligence, hard work, and persistence.
Track record of effective problem-solving and project execution.
Interest in using enabling technologies.
Strong organizational and interpersonal skills, ability to meet deadlines and drive decision-making, and a willingness to listen and learn from clients.
Strong work ethic focused on high-priority issues, action, and results.

Nice To Haves

Experience in bespoke or custom manufacturing, engineering, or project-based production environments.

Responsibilities

Prepare detailed project- and customer-level income statements and analyze actual performance against original and revised estimates.
Perform variance analysis on revenue, costs, and margins; identify risks and recommend corrective actions to project managers and senior stakeholders.
Provide project progress and commercial-terms inputs to the accounting team to support timely and accurate revenue recognition.
Calculate and review monthly project percentage-of-completion metrics, partnering with the GL team to translate operational analysis into financial reporting data.
Monitor purchasing and material flow by project, working with procurement to track commitments and deliveries against project plans.
Follow up with production and project teams on execution milestones, budgets, and timelines, escalating issues proactively.
Provide financial input to project reviews, change orders, and customer negotiations as needed.
Develop regular reporting packages, including customer and project income statements and estimate-to-actual comparisons.
Analyze estimate-to-actual variances at key project milestones and at project completion, capturing financial lessons for future bids and project planning.
Contribute to rolling project forecasts, budget updates, and month-end close with reliable cost and margin projections.
Serve as a key finance contact for project managers, production leads, and procurement, using financial insight to influence decision-making.
Lead regular financial reviews with project teams to promote accountability and proactive cost management.
Support root cause analysis of cost overruns and contribute to lessons learned and process improvements.
Champion cost-control and operational-finance best practices across the organization.